ABSTRACT
Domestic violence covers a wide range of delinquent behaviour, where homicide may be considered as the lethal outcome at the extreme end of a continuum of violence. In many domestic homicide cases, the roles of victim and of perpetrator change, particularly when it comes to so-called reactive killings. The spectrum, domestic homicide cases are at times characterized not by exaggeration, but rather by denial. Even though public policy in domestic violence prevention is a relatively development, legal consideration of domestic homicide perpetrators has a fairly long history. Contemporary statistics show that domestic homicides are mostly committed by so-called hands-on methods, by sharp weapons such as knives or by firearms. Clinical criminology is best represented by, but by no means limited to, applications of criminological knowledge to correctional and forensic mental health problems in European countries. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
